Judge says red-light camera ban is unconstitutional

A red-light camera ban approved by Murrieta residents in November was overturned Friday by a Riverside judge who concluded voters didn't have authority in the issue.

Riverside Superior Court Judge Daniel Ottolia, who handed down the decision, also ruled last August that the ballot initiative proposing the ban was unconstitutional. But an appellate court overturned that decision in September, deciding that Measure N should remain on the ballot and the issue of constitutionality could be taken up after the election.

In November, the measure banning the red-light cameras was approved by 57 percent of the city's voters.

Charles Bell of the law firm Bell, McAndrews and Hiltachk -- which represented Safe Streets for Murrieta, No on Measure N, the campaign committee backed by traffic-camera companies -- said the issue was whether voters could trump the City Council's power in the matter of traffic regulation.

"We felt confident that our position was correct about where the authority to do this kind of thing lay," Bell said. "The subsequent decision of the court ... just indicated that."

The four red-light enforcement cameras at three intersections in Murrieta were turned off in December, after the election results were certified, but the cameras never came down. Assistant City Attorney Jeffrey Morris said for now the cameras will remain off, and the council will determine a future course of action.

"It'll be for the City Council to decide what they're going to do," Morris said.

It's sure to be a thorny issue, with members of the current council who supported red-light cameras having to formulate the city's next move knowing that a clear majority of the city's voters who turned out in November oppose them.

On Friday, Councilman Randon Lane did not indicate what direction the council might take.

"I can say confidently that we will look at this, look at all of our different options, and then make a decision on what we're going to do and move forward," he said.

Lane did say he would like to see the council deal with the matter sooner rather than later.

"We've made it very clear that we believe that the courts needed to make a decision and give some direction on this," Lane said.

Murrieta resident Diana Serafin strongly opposes the red-light cameras and was one of organizers who helped put Measure N on the ballot.

"The people said we don't want them," Serafin said. "They (council members) won't listen. City Councils do what they want."

Serafin said she has heard talk of a council recall by residents roiled up over zoning issues and other decisions, and has even been asked to help with the effort, but so far has declined.

"I keep saying, 'No,'" she said. "But now, if they put these cameras on, I might get involved."